Why India must invest in airport infra to be ready for a billion air trips

In the first of a two-part series, the author argues that we must invest ahead of current demand to propel the aviation sector and the overall economy forward

In the past four years, the aviation sector has boomed with air traffic doubling from about 100 million trips in 2013 to 200 million trips in 2017. Total aviation sector revenues now match those of Indian Railways and the telecom sector. While lower oil prices sparked this growth, it has been the Modi government’s innovative policies that have sustained it. These policies include the first-ever National Civil Aviation Policy, the highly successful UDAN Regional Connectivity Scheme, the AirSewa passenger-centric measures, and many ease-of-doing-business actions. India is now poised to grow from 200 million passenger trips per year to more than